Head For An Oral Hygiene Device

ABSTRACT

A head for an oral hygiene device is disclosed. The head includes a carrier; and at least one elastic cleaning element attached to the carrier. The carrier is structured such that it provides the cleaning element with a first bending property in a first direction and a second bending property in a second direction. The first bending property and the second bending property are different from each other; and the first direction and the second direction are different from each other.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to the field of heads for oral hygienedevices. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to the fieldof oral hygiene devices having a brush head.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known that some oral hygiene devices, for example toothbrushes,provide at least one cleaning element attached to a carrier. Thecleaning element may be formed by an elastic filament which duringoperation of the oral hygiene device is bent away from its rest stateextension. Due to its elastic properties, the cleaning element mayreturn after bending into its initial position and shape. If thecleaning element has a symmetric cross section, the flexural strength ofthe cleaning elements may approximately be isotropic. Thus, bending of acleaning element requires equal forces irrespective of the directioninto which the cleaning element is bent or deflected from its initialposition.

However, when cleaning the oral cavity different bending properties ofthe cleaning element in different directions may be desirable.

There however exists a need to provide a head for an oral hygiene devicewith at least one cleaning element, which has different bendingproperties in different directions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a head for an oral hygiene device is provided. Thehead includes a carrier; and at least one elastic cleaning elementattached to the carrier. The carrier is structured such that it providesthe cleaning element with a first bending property in a first directionand a second bending property in a second direction. The first bendingproperty and the second bending property are different from each other;and the first direction and the second direction are different from eachother.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of specific embodimentswill become evident to those skilled in the art from a reading of thepresent disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative in nature andnot intended to limit the invention defined by the claims. The followingdetailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understoodwhen read in conjunction with the following drawings, where likestructure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a head accordingto embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of a head of FIG.1 without bristles;

FIG. 3 shows a top view onto the head of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective top view onto another embodiment of a head;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view through the head of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an oral hygiene device according toembodiments shown and described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following text sets forth a broad description of numerous differentembodiments of the present disclosure. The description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. It will be understood that any feature,characteristic, component, composition, ingredient, product, step ormethodology described herein can be deleted, combined with orsubstituted for, in whole or part, any other feature, characteristic,component, composition, ingredient, product, step or methodologydescribed herein. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented,using either current technology or technology developed after the filingdate of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of theclaims. All publications and patents cited herein are incorporatedherein by reference.

According to the present disclosure, a head for an oral hygiene device(e.g. a manual or an electric toothbrush) is provided. In oneembodiment, the head may have at least one elastic cleaning element thatis attached to a carrier. Here, “attached” means that the cleaningelement may be mounted inside of the carrier, in particular that aportion of the cleaning element is accommodated in a mounting hole ofthe carrier or that the cleaning element is attached to a surface of thecarrier (e.g. glued to the surface or injection molded in a way that thematerial of the cleaning element and the carrier engage in a materialbond). The carrier may be structured in a way that it provides thecleaning element with at least two different bending properties in atleast two different directions. This may in particular be achieved by afirst bending stop that limits the bendable length of the cleaningelement in a first direction in contrast to a larger bendable length ofthe cleaning element present in a second direction different to thefirst direction. In some embodiments, the first and the second directionmay be opposite to each other. The bending direction is determined by avector arrow that originates in a central point of the cleaning element,which extends in a plane that is perpendicular to a longitudinalextension direction of the cleaning element and that has an angularvalue in a range from 0 degrees to 360 degrees measured with respect toa reference direction.

In one embodiment, the first bending stop (likewise as a second bendingstop or any further bending stop that may be present on the carrier) maybe formed by a protruding element, e.g. a wall-like element, whichprotruding element may in particular abut the cleaning element over aportion of its longitudinal length. Measured from a central point of thecleaning element, the bending stop may extend over an angular range ofabout 180 degrees or less.

In some embodiments, a first bending stop may be present that determinesa bendable length of the cleaning element as a multi-step function orcontinuous function of the bending direction for at least a firstangular range of bending directions, e.g. in case that the first bendingstop is realized by a protruding element, the protruding element may beformed like a curved wall segment having different height in differentdirections.

The carrier according to an embodiment of the present disclosure isstructured such that it provides for different bending properties of atleast one cleaning element in different directions. A bending propertymay be the stiffness or rigidity of the cleaning element when thecleaning element is being bent. In some embodiments, at least onefurther cleaning element may be attached to the carrier and the carrieris structured such that this at least one further cleaning element hasidentical bending properties in all directions. As a result anarrangement is provided, wherein different forces have to be applied indifferent directions to the at least one cleaning element in order tobent the cleaning element.

In some embodiments, at least one cleaning element may be realized as asingle filament formed of an elastic plastic material, e.g. a bristle oran elastomeric “finger”. In other embodiments, at least one cleaningelement may be realized as a bristle tuft comprising a plurality ofbristles. In another embodiment, at least one cleaning element may beformed as an elastomeric element that may in particular have a largerlongitudinal extension than its diameter. While any suitable materialmay be utilized, one example for a plastic material suitable for forminga cleaning element may be polyamide, another example is natural orsynthetic rubber.

In some embodiments, a plurality of cleaning elements is arranged on thecarrier of the head. In some embodiments, the carrier has at least onebending stop for the at least one cleaning element, the bending stopbeing arranged such that it influences the bending properties of thecleaning element in at least one direction. In some embodiments, thebending stop party envelopes the cleaning element.

In an embodiment, the cleaning element may be attached to a mountingsurface of the carrier, e.g. by molding it onto the carrier. In such anembodiment, a bending stop for the cleaning element provided on thecarrier on one side of the cleaning element may shorten a bendablelength of the cleaning element on this side. Thus in order to achievesimilar deflection of the cleaning element from its rest position likelyrequires different bending forces in different directions.

In some embodiments, the bending stop may be formed by a protrudingelement being arranged on the carrier, wherein the protruding elementmay in particular abut part of the cleaning element.

Abutment in the sense of the present disclosure means that theprotruding element protruding from the carrier is in engagement with thecleaning element when the cleaning element is in its initial restposition. However, abutment also includes configurations, wherein thecleaning element may be brought into engagement with the protrudingelement only if the cleaning element is deflected from its restposition.

In some embodiments, the carrier may have a first bending stop and atleast one second bending stop, which are arranged such that a firstbendable length of the cleaning element in a first direction is longerthan a second bendable length of the cleaning element in a seconddirection, wherein the first direction and the second direction aredifferent from each other.

By providing two different bending stops for differently limitingbending motions of a cleaning element in different directions (i.e. forgenerating different bendable lengths' in the different directions),different bending properties in different directions are achieved.

In some embodiments, the elastic cleaning element has a mountingsection, an operative section and an operative end opposite the mountingsection. The mounting section of the cleaning element may beaccommodated in the carrier (e.g. the mounting section may be fastenedinside a mounting hole provided in the carrier). The carrier may have afirst bending stop associated with the operative section of the cleaningelement for constricting a bending motion the operative section of thecleaning element in a first direction. Additionally, the carrier maycomprise at least a second bending stop associated with the operativesection of the cleaning element for constricting a bending motion of theoperative section of the cleaning element in a second direction, whereinthe second direction is different from the first direction.

In the meaning of the present disclosure, the operative end of thecleaning element is the free end intended for engagement with, e.g., thegums and/or teeth to be treated. The operative section of the cleaningelement in the meaning of the present disclosure is the part of thecleaning element which is intended to be brought in engagement with thegum and teeth during use of the brush head.

The mounting sections of the bristles may be accommodated in holes inthe bristle carrier. In an embodiment in which the cleaning element isaccommodated in holes in the carrier, a first bending stop may beprovided by the upper edge of a protruding element arranged in closeproximity to the hole such that the cleaning elements abuts theprotruding element when it is bent. The protruding element may also bearranged such that it essentially prolongs an inner wall of the hole andthus abuts the cleaning element over part of its longitudinal extensionlength. A second bending stop may be provided by an upper edge of thehole.

A bendable length of the operative section is defined by a distancebetween an upper edge of a bending stop and the operative end of thecleaning element. In some embodiments, the first bending stop and thesecond bending stop are arranged such that a first bendable length ofthe operative section is shorter than a second bendable length of theoperative section.

In order to achieve an equal deflection of the operative section of thecleaning element for a bending motion in the direction of the firstbending stop which is defining a shorter bendable length of theoperative section a higher force is required when compared to a bendingmotion in the direction of the second bending stop providing a longerbendable length of the operative section.

In some embodiments, a second bending stop may be formed by a protrudingelement being arranged on the carrier, wherein the protruding elementabuts part of the operating section of a cleaning element.

Turning to the figures, the protruding element in the embodiments ofFIGS. 1 to 3 may be formed by a wall member 5 extending from carrier andabove the upper edge of the hole 3. The wall member 5 forming the firstbending stop essentially extends parallel to the longitudinal extensiondirection of the cleaning element and abuts the cleaning element.However, there may be other embodiments, wherein the first bending stopextends under an angle with respect to the bristles.

For example in the embodiments depicted in the figures, the firstbending stop may be formed by wall members 5, 105. While the firstbending stop of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 may be an arc shaped wallmember, the first bending stop of the embodiment according to FIGS. 4and 5 may be a H-shaped wall member 105. However, there may be otherembodiments, wherein the first bending stop has another shape, e.g. atriangular shape.

In some embodiments, the carrier and the first bending stop may beintegrally formed, e.g. by plastic injection molding of the carriertogether with the first bending stop.

This may be the case for both embodiments shown in the figures. In theembodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3, the carrier and the arc-shapedfirst bending stop 5 may be integrally formed. In the embodimentaccording to FIGS. 4 and 5, the H-shaped first bending stop 105 may beintegrally formed with the bristle carrier 102. In some embodiments, thecarrier and the protruding element may be formed of two separate parts.

In some embodiments, at least two or more cleaning elements may bearranged on the carrier and the first bending stop may be arranged suchthat it abuts at least two cleaning elements.

In the embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 to 3, the head 7 comprises aplurality of cleaning elements realized bristle tufts 8, where eachbristle tuft may comprise two or more bristles. In this embodiment, thelateral cross-sectional area of each of the bristle tufts 8 may becircular. However, other examples for the shape of the lateralcross-sectional area of a bristle tuft (or a cleaning element ingeneral) may be rectangular, square, elliptical, or star-like shapes.

The lateral cross-sectional area of a cleaning element in the meaning ofthe present disclosure is its cross-sectional area in a directionperpendicular to the longitudinal extension direction.

The head 7 may include four protruding elements 5, wherein each of theprotruding elements 5, 105 may be associated with one cleaning element8. Each of the protruding elements 5 may be arranged such that it abutsa part of the outer surface of the cleaning element to which it isassociated.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the H-shaped collar 105 as theprotruding element forming a first bending stop may be associated withtwo cleaning elements 108 and thus simultaneously abuts two cleaningelements 108.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 to 3, each of the cleaningelements 8 has a circular cross-sectional area and the first bendingstops 5 may be formed such that each partly encloses the cleaningelement it is associated with.

In some embodiments, a plurality of cleaning elements is realized by aplurality of bristle tufts. At least one of the bristle tufts may have acircular cross-sectional area and the first bending stop may form apartial circular arc partly enclosing the circular cross-sectional areaof the bristle tuft. In some embodiments, the partial circular arcforming the first bending stop may have an angular extension in a rangefrom about 10° to about 270°, or may have an angular extension in arange from about 50° to about 200°, or to about 180°.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, each of the protruding elements 5forming a plurality of first bending stops encloses the circularcross-sectional area of the associated cleaning element 8 by a partialcircular arc extending over approximately 180° of the cross-sectionalarea of each of the groups 8.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cross-sectional area ofthe cleaning elements 108 may be approximately rectangular such that thefirst bending stop 105 formed by an H-shaped collar extends over thenarrow side of the rectangle as well as part of the long sides of therectangle.

In some embodiments, at least a first and a second cleaning element maybe arranged on the carrier. A first bending stop for limiting thebending motion of the first cleaning element in a first direction may beassociated with the first cleaning element and a second bending stop forlimiting the bending motion of the second cleaning element in a seconddirection may be associated with the second cleaning element. In suchembodiments, the first direction and the second direction may beopposite to each other.

FIG. 3 shows that the head 7 has two cleaning elements 8 a, 8 b havingprotruding elements forming bending stops 5 associated therewith. Theprotruding elements 5 are arranged such that they would complement eachother, i.e. together they may cover a full circle of 360°. Thisconfiguration may lead to the cleaning element 8 a being more rigidunder a bending motion towards the left side of FIG. 3 and the cleaningelement 8 b being more rigid under a bending motion towards the rightside of FIG. 3. As the head 7 depicted in the examples of FIGS. 1 to 3may used as a head 7 of an electric oral hygiene device providing aoscillatory rotational motion of the head 7 during operation of a oralhygiene device, the arrangement of cleaning elements 8 of thisembodiment may leads to the fact that in both directions of rotation ofthe head 7, always some of the cleaning elements 8 are more rigid undera bending motion and thus may provide a higher force on the teeth andgum than others.

The functionality of providing two distinct bending stops for a singlecleaning element is described with reference to FIG. 1. However, thesame could be described with respect to the embodiment to FIGS. 4 and 5.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 to 3, the second bending stop maybe formed by the upper edge 4 of the hole 3 accommodating the mountingsections 6 of the bristles 1. When bending for example the cleaningelement 8 a on the left side of FIG. 1 to the right side of FIG. 1, thecleaning element will be curved over a bendable length defined as thedistance of the operative section 9 of the cleaning element measuredbetween the bending stop 4 formed by the upper edge of the hole 3 andthe operative end 10 of the cleaning element. In the embodimentindicated by FIGS. 1-3, the cleaning elements 8 a, 8 b may be realizedas bristle tufts that each comprise a plurality of two or more bristles1.

When performing a bending motion of the cleaning element into theopposite direction, i.e. towards the left of the drawing of FIG. 1, theoperative section 9 of the bristle 1 may be bent over a bending lengthwhich is determined as the distance between the upper edge 11 of theprotruding element 5 forming the first bending stop and the operativeend 10 of the bristle 1. The bendable length between the upper edge 11of the protruding element 5 and the operative end 10 may be shorter thanthe bendable length of the operative section 9 between the first bendingstop 4 and the operative end 10 of the bristle 1. Consequently, whenmoving the operative end 10 of bristle 1 to the left side of FIG. 1, ahigher force may be required in order to obtain an identical deflectionof the operative end 10 when compared to a bending motion of theoperative end 10 to the right of FIG. 1. This fact may be used in orderto enhance the forces applied by the bristle 1 to the gum and teeth tobe cleaned in one direction of bending motion when compared to a bendingmotion in another direction.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an oral hygiene device, here realizedas an electric toothbrush, having a handle portion 21 and a replaceablepart 22 being detachably mounted on the handle portion. The replaceablepart may comprise a head according any embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or relatedpatent or application, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation ofany document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect toany invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in anycombination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests ordiscloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning ordefinition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shallgovern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A head for an oral hygiene device comprising: acarrier; and at least one elastic cleaning element attached to thecarrier; wherein the carrier is structured such that it provides thecleaning element with a first bending property in a first direction anda second bending property in a second direction; wherein the firstbending property and the second bending property are different from eachother; and wherein the first direction and the second direction aredifferent from each other.
 2. The head according to claim 1, wherein thecarrier has at least a first bending stop for reducing an effectivebendable length of the cleaning element in the first direction.
 3. Thehead according to claim 2, wherein the first bending stop is formed by aprotruding element arranged on the carrier, wherein the protrudingelement abuts the cleaning element at least over a part of itslongitudinal extension length.
 4. The head according to claim 1, whereinthe carrier has a first bending stop and at least one second bendingstop, which are arranged such that a first bendable length of thecleaning element in a first direction is longer than a second bendablelength of the cleaning element in a second direction, wherein the firstdirection and the second direction are different from each other.
 5. Thehead according to claim 1, wherein the at least one elastic cleaningelement has a mounting section, an operative section and an operativeend opposite the mounting section; wherein the mounting section isaccommodated in the carrier; wherein the carrier has a first bendingstop for constricting a bending motion of the operative section in afirst direction; and wherein the carrier has at least a second bendingstop for constricting a bending motion of the operative section of thecleaning element in a second direction being different from the firstdirection.
 6. The head according to claim 5, wherein the first bendingstop and the second bending stop are arranged such that a first bendablelength of the operative section defined by a distance between the firstbending stop and the operative end of the cleaning element is longerthan a second bendable length of the operative section defined by adistance between the second bending stop and the operative end of thecleaning element.
 7. The head according to claim 2, wherein the at leastone cleaning element is realized as a bristle tuft including a pluralityof bristles and the first bending stop is arranged such that it abutsseveral of the plurality of bristles.
 8. The head according to claim 2,wherein the cleaning element has a transversal cross-sectional area andwherein the first bending stop partly encloses the transversalcross-sectional area of the cleaning element.
 9. The head according toclaim 2, wherein the cleaning element has a circular transversalcross-sectional area, and wherein the first bending stop forms a partialcircular arc partly enclosing the circular transversal cross-sectionalarea of the cleaning element.
 10. The head according to claim 9, whereinthe partial circular arc forming the first bending stop extends in arange from about 10° to about 270°.
 11. The head according to claim 9,wherein the partial circular arc forming the first bending stop extendsin a range from about 50° to about 200°.
 12. The head according to claim9, wherein the partial circular arc forming the first bending stopextends over about 180°.
 13. The head according to claim 1, comprisingat least a first cleaning element and a second cleaning element, whereinthe first and second elastic cleaning element each have a mountingsection, an operative section and an operative end opposite the mountingsection, wherein a first bending stop is arranged next to the firstcleaning element and a second bending stop is arranged next to thesecond cleaning element, wherein the first bending stop abuts part ofthe operating section of the first cleaning element such that a bendingmotion of the operative section of the first cleaning element isconstricted by the bending stop in a first direction, and wherein thesecond bending stop abuts part of the operating section of the secondcleaning element such that a bending motion of the operative section ofthe second cleaning element is constricted by the bending stop in thesecond direction, wherein the first direction and the second directionare opposite to each other.
 14. The head according to claim 2, whereinthe carrier and the first bending stop are integrally formed.
 15. Thehead according to claim 1, wherein the head is detachably mountable on ahandle.
 16. An oral hygiene device comprising a head according to claim1.